The New Skies
by White.Pink.Green
Summary: Fuji had been in love with Tezuka three years now, and never gave anyone else a chance, untill Yukimura Seiichi managed to get a date out of him. Now Tezuka has to suffer jealousy in silence, because he never gave Fuji the love he deserved.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! Leena here. First fic published. I do not own Prince of Tennis, otherwise it would contain a lot more Fuji than it does. This fic is going to have u-17 canon in the future, so I can imaginary compensate the lack of Fuji in The New Prince of Tennis. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

It was more or less a normal day. As normal as it could be for him, anyway, having just won the National Tennis Tournament, making him and the whole tennis club even more of a celebrity. In any case, his days were as busy as always, and his breaks still consisted in hiding away of the rest of the school on an empty room, in this case the locker room, with only Fuji. And Fuji standing beside him, looking beautiful. Tezuka as long ago accepted his not-so-friendship-inclined feelings towards the brunette, but also long ago decided he wouldn't act upon those feelings. Priorities. Tennis and school first, he didn't really have time to spare in love relationships. But right now, his beloved friend was asking him about one, and he was completely lost as how to answer.

"Nee, Tezuka... " he said.

"hnn?"

"What would you say if I told you I was gay?"

Tezuka's mind went blank for a few seconds, then answered "Our friendship is not conditioned by your sexual orientation"

"Ahh, I'm glad to hear that" the lithe boy said. Then after a few seconds of pause, he added  
"Yukimura Seiichi asked me out"

Then Tezuka's brain collapsed upon itself. He always knew one day he would have to see Syuusuke dating, but yet... he wasn't prepared for it. He knew that a lot of people asked the boy out, he was, after all, extremely beautiful, smart, pleasant, atractive, strong, fun, and everything you could possibly want on a boyfriend, but the tensai had never mentioned any of those people to Tezuka before. If he just did, it must be because he is considering to accept, or maybe he already did.

"Do you like him?" Was all Tezuka managed to say after a few minutes of shock.

"Well, he is attractive, and nice, and we do have a fair amount in common, so I figured I may as well give him a chance. We are going on a date this weekend"

Tezuka felt his lungs run out of air. A date. With Yukimura. His beloved angel was going on a date. And he's not going to do anything to stop it. It hurt.  
That monday, Syuusuke showed up to school singing. A love song, on top of that. Making an effort to hear the tensai's soft voice, Tezuka tried to understand the lyrics.  
The song was about starting a new love. Tezuka didn't have to ask to know his date had gone great. But he did wonder who was the previous love that didn't go that well.  
When Tezuka was about to greet the tensai, that for the first time hadn't noticed his presence yet, Eiji glomped him from behind.

"Nyaaaa, Fujiko, are you singing?"

"Ohayo, Eiji"

"Soooo... How did it go?" The redhead asked in a suggestive tone.

"Saa... " Syuusuke opened his eyes, but there was no threat in them, there were actually sort of... dreamy. Tezuka felt the sting of jealousy on his chest.

"mmm... so are you seeing him again?"

"Seiichi invited me to an art gallery opening this friday" Fuji answered.

Great, they were already in first name basis.

* * *

Staturday afternoon. Syuusuke was on his room, looking at his wardrobe with a thoughtfull face. After trying out three other outfits, he decided for a blue short sleeve button up shirt, open, a black t-shirt under, black pants and sneakes, completed with a silver bracelet.  
After checking himself on the mirror one last time, he thought about what was about to come. It was his first date ever, after all.  
Not that he didn't have offers, from the time he turned thirteen, he'd been asked out at least once a week by a lot of different people. But his heart had belonged to a certain someone for so long, he never gave any other person a chance before. What had changed now, was that his time together with that someone was coming to an end. He hadn't asked his buchou yet, but he had the feeling that Tezuka wouldn't be going to highschool in Japan next year, and 90% of the time, those gut feelings he had were true. And in any case, Tezuka hadn't given him a single signal during the past three years that he'd be willing to date him, or anyone for that matter. Tennis and school, those were his only occupations, and hobbies as fishing, hiking, bonsai and reading occupied the only free time he could have, and even then, even though Syuusuke had implied he would go with him, Tezuka had never invited him. Their relationship was limited to school, tennis and the walk to and back from school, because the captain had never accepted invitations from the tensai either. Finally, after all that, and after winning the championship together, a dreadfull sense of finality had been taking over everytime he looked at Tezuka's stone face.  
That's when the very attractive captain of Rikkaidai Fuzoku Chuu asked him out. They met on the street tennis courts Syuusuke visits regularly, according to the blunette, by coincidence, but Syuusuke had the feeling the other boy was actually waiting for him. They played a friendly match, that turned out to be so intense, they ended up on the floor panting. It ended up on Fuji's loss, but it was a very close battle. The brunette hadn't feel such a thrill, ever. He wasn't playing for winning, not for just messing around, as he often did, he played because that was really fun. He played seriously, and for fun. That was something new for him. Then, Yukimura showed up in front of him, or more acuratelly, on top of him blocking the sun, because Syuusuke was still lying down. He helped the brunette up, and there was a tingling feeling that was so nice. They sat down under a tree and shared sport drinks. They talked about the match, laughed and smiled. They realized they had the same sense of humor, and that they understood each other quite well. Then, Fuji took out his camera and took a picture. It was an impulse he just followed, when Yukimura looked up to the sky, the wind dancing on his hair, the sunlight trough the tree leaves, the image was so beautifull, he didn't even think and snapped the picture. Yukimura looked at him with questioning eyes, and Fuji blushed.  
"Sorry, was that weird? I like photography, and right now, you looked... I just... didn't think, just took the picture."  
Yukimura laughed at that as if it was the funniest thing in the world. And then he asked.  
"Fuji-kun. What would you say to a date with me next saturday?"  
"A date?" He went blank for a few seconds, somehow, he didn't see that coming. "ehh, sure" He smiled for a second then he realized he was probably looking like a love-struck schoolgirl, and turned around.  
Yukimura chuckled and took his leaving, promising to pick him up at his house, saturday 5:30 pm.  
And there's the tensai now, waiting for the doorbell that's due to ring in two minutes now.  
It did ring, exactly at the agreed time, like a clock. Syuusuke opened the door and his heart gave a somersault. Yukimura looked breathtaking.  
"Shall we go?" Yukimura said with a smile that promised... something big.  
Fuji nodded and took the arm that was being offered to him, without realizing how he'd look like the girl doing so. Yukimura led the way to a cab waiting for them, and took the tensai to a cafe next to a park. Everything was already prepared for them, the table was reserved and it had the most beautiful flower arrangement... of belladonna, lilly of the valley and autumn crocus.  
"Do you like it? I ordered it for you" Yukimura said as he pulled out the chair for Syuusuke to sit.  
"It's beautiful. Thank you" He felt himself blushing profuselly, not entirelly sure if for the flowers, the reservation, the fact that Yukimura pulled out the chair, or the fact that the flowers were... "They're all poisonous, and very expensive, the Autumn Crocus at least"  
"Yes. Actually they make me think of you. Beautiful, tantalizing, but deadly"  
Now, Fuji was sure that his face could not possibly get any redder. He gave Yukimura an open eyed smile that said thank you in a way that the blunette could not help but blush too.  
That was when they discovered they both liked gardening too. It was hard to believe for him, as if he'd been on a dream, to discover that there was someone out there with so much in common with him, and so pleasant to be with...  
Then Fuji took something out of his bag to give Yukimura.  
"Yukimura-kun... here" he said, handing him a photograph "It's a copy of the picture a took of you the other day. I hope you don't mind I keep the original"  
"Seiichi" he said smiling."Call me Seiichi"  
"Seiichi" the tensai repeated with a smile."Syuusuke" he said then.  
"Mind if I call you Syuu?"  
"Syuu is perfectly fine"  
The smile they gave each other that moment was perfect. The moment was perfect. After eating, they went for a walk in the park, and stood to watch the sunset. Seiichi slid an arm to hug Syuusuke's waist, the brunette turned to face him, and when their eyes met, it was so beautifull, so perfect, they just slowly leaned to each other and shared their first kiss together. Which was also Syuusuke's first kiss, ever.  
Everything felt kind of dreamy from then on.  
He spent the rest of the weekend daydreaming about his date, about Seiichi, about the next date they'd agreed on, and listening to the various love songs his sister played on the house's stereo while giggling at him. And for once in three years, Tezuka's name didn't even cross his mind.

* * *

Yukimura had been looking at Seigaku's so famous tensai from the moment they step in that stadium. During the match the boy had againts their trickster, Yukimura had a bit of trouble focusing on what he was supposed to -the actual match- because the brunette's body, running from one side of the court to the other, his mesmerizing blue eyes, his shirt lifting, his legs... all was a bit too distracting, even for someone with such a great self-control as him. And, as he could notice, it was a bit too distracting for a lot of other people too, including three Seigakus and a Shitenhouji.  
He hadn't noticed that Seigaku's captain was gay before.  
After the whole ordeal was over, something left Seiichi with a sad feeling on his chest. Probably the loss. But also the image of that Fuji Syuusuke's eyes that didn't go away.  
There was something in those eyes. Something he wanted. So he went to the one person who could help him with that: Yanagi Renji.  
Renji told him everything he knew about the so called tensai of Seigaku, which turned out to be not as much as he had expected. According to him, not even Seigaku's Sadaharu, that had studied him for three years, had been able to gather more data on the boy. That intrigued the Rikkai captain, it was... interesting. At leats it was enough to know where to stage a "casual" encounter with the Fuji boy.  
That weekend, he went to stay in Tokyo, at his cousin's place. Saturday morning, he headed for the street courts Yanagi told him that Fuji often visited. The blue eyed tensai didn't show up that morning. He didn't show up saturday afternoon either, but Yukimura wasn't one to give up. Sunday morning he was there too, when he saw the smiling face he'd been waiting for.  
"Hi, Fuji-kun!" He greets "Didn't expect to see you"  
"Yukimura-san" The boy acknowledged him. "You're pretty far from "  
"I came to stay with my cousin for the weekend, and felt like playing tennis. My cousin told me there where courts here. Want to play a friendly match?"  
Fuji opened his eyes for a few seconds, giving him a quite intense look, then he closed them again, smiled and nodded.  
It was intense, as his eyes. Pretty intense, unbelievably, the tensai could play perfectly well without seeing, and still push. Originally, he hadn't planned on going as serious as taking away his senses, but turned out the brunette could push him that far, thou when he did, he found out it was useful for hiding the lust that was starting to show a bit, watching the lithe boy running back and forth.  
When it was over, they were both exhausted. Yukimura had a satisfied feeling, and he felt a very real smile break on his face as he stared at the sky. He stood up, looked at the other boy, on the other side of the court, still lying face up, and breathing hard. It was a beautiful sight. The blunette stood up, walked to Fuji, and standing by his side, leaned over his face.  
"That was a great match" He smiled and extended his hand to help the smaller boy up.  
"Yeah"  
There was a sort of electricity when they touched, or at least that was what Seiichi felt.  
They sat under a tree, and talked for two solid hours. Yukimura couldn't remember the last time he had a conversation that long, with someone that could not only keep up with him, but make him laugh that much, even outwit him sometimes. Everything was going amazingly, and Yukimura looked up to the sky, dazed for a few minutes at the wonder he had found, when he heard the click of a camera. Fuji had snapped a picture of him. He felt confused for a few seconds, until the boy turned completely red. He looked like he was about to stutter.  
"Sorry, was that weird? I like photography, and right now, you looked... I just... didn't think, just took the picture."  
Yukimura couldn't help, but laugh. It was not often that people got to surprise him like that. Fuji was definitly what he was looking for.

* * *

Tezuka wasn't one to eavesdrop, but somehow... he couldn't help it. Fuji was so dazed, he hadn't even noticed him, barely said hi, then he went ahead with Eiji, telling him about his date. Syuusuke never talked about such private matters, or at least, he'd never seen him do that before. And he had called Yukimura by his given name.  
"We kissed" Fuji said blushing profussely. If Tezuka hadn't been so hurt to hear that, he would have been just marvelled at the sight of a blushing Fuji. He didn't even know Fuji's face could do that. Apparently, neither did Eiji, for the boy just stood there stunned for a few seconds while Fuji kept walking to school, then run to catch up.  
"OMG, Fujiko-chan, you had your first kiss with Yukimura?"  
"Shhh, Eiji, don't say it so loud! But yes, I did"  
Tezuka couldn't keep listening. That was Fuji's first kiss. He could have been the one to take it. He could have been the one, but he chose not to. It hurts, but he knows is for the best. He's not supposed to waste time in love when he had so many responsabilities to uphold.  
That week went quite fast. Fuji dazed, walking around while humming love songs, Eiji glomping people around and teasing, Tezuka being even quieter than usual. Classes were almost over, and they started having free periods, in which Tezuka noticed Fuji texting someone, and giggling like he'd never seen him do before. Eiji tried to peek on Fuji's texts, but the tensai wouldn't let him, which ended up in both of them playing a pretense fight for the phone and laughing. Inui commented during lunch time that there's 80% chance someone finally stole the tensai's heart, which surprised Tezuka, because he thought that if Eiji knew, surely the whole school would have found out already. Turns out the redhead is more reserved than he looks like. Kawamura looked as brokenhearted as Tezuka was when he heard Inui's guess, and Kaidoh just hissed and said  
"That's his private matter, and besides you're not entirelly sure, sempai"  
which actually seemed to cheer up the burning guy a bit.  
Tezuka knew better, thou. Fuji wouldn't have kissed the guy if he wasn't going to seriously date him.


	2. Second Date

Chapter 2 here. Thank you soo much for the reviews, favs and follows, it makes me really happy =) Answers at the bottom. If PoT were mine, it would probably be a romantic comedy about Fuji and his harem so, it is obviously not mine.

* * *

Friday couldn't come fast enough for the Seigaku tensai, counting the seconds as he was to see Yukimura again. They'd hadn't officially stated it, but it was pretty obvious they were boyfriends now. Syuusuke looked at the classroom clock again, and as soon as the bells signaling the end of classes resounded trough the school, Fuji had already shouted a "Bye, Eiji" and dissapeared. When he got home, he started getting ready for his date, his chosen outfit already lined on his bed, a dark blue shirt, a grey and white vest, blue jeans, and a rosary necklace. Then he was ready and hurried to the chosen location. The trips were quite long, for both of them, so they'd agreed to meet at the art gallery. When he got there, first thing he noticed -hard to miss anyway- the large amount of weird looking people hanging outside the place. Very flashy looking people, or very raggeddy looking people, and some were both. Must be artists, Fuji thought. Some that looked like college teachers. He felt someone approaching from behind, turned around, and saw it was Seiichi. Again, he looked breathtaking, with his jeans, his boots, simple white shirt, black bracelet, and his always gorgeous face. Yukimura planted a chaste kiss on Fuji's lips as a greeting. They both blushed.  
The exposition was beautifull, interesting, quite experimental, mixing up different tecniques on painting and sculpture to create not just a picture, but a scene. Seiichi complimented the creativity, and Fuji was amazed by the beauty of the composition. They had a lot of fun, talking to each other and to the people that turned out to be all very interesting, with very few exceptions. They exchanged phone numbers with people with same artistic interests, Fuji with a few photographers, Yukimura wih a few painters. Then they went to get some drinks, and a bite to eat. Everything was going just amazingly, and Seiichi escorted the brunette to his doorstep. They said their goodbyes and shared a small kiss again, but before Syuusuke could turn away, the blunette took a step forward and pressed his body on Fuji's small frame, trapping him against the closed door. The tensai gasped, and Seiichi inmediatly took the chance to press their lips together and this time slide his tongue inside the other's mouth. Syuusuke slid his arms to hug Yukimura's waist, and the other placed one hand behind Fuji's neck and the other sliding up the tensai's shirt. When they were all entranced enjoying the kiss, they heard the door click open, and barely stepped away in time to avoid falling right through it. Fuji's sister was at home, and heard noises at the door.

* * *

Tezuka was completely irked. More than that, he was furious. Fuji had completely skipped tennis practices without any valid reason, and even thought it is true that after winning, everyone including Coach Ryuuzaki seemed way more relaxed, still they shouldn't let their guards down like this. On top of that, Coach Ryuuzaki had the nerve to tell him to relax and let Fuji enjoy his date, when he informed her about the utterly ridiculous reason Fuji was absent for. It was not acceptable. People should always try their best at everything, even if they are as smart and talented and amazing as Fuji is. So the very uptight Seigaku Captain decided he should go and pay a visit to his very irresposible teamate as soon as he was done with his own very long list of duties. That's how Tezuka Kunimitsu found himself standing across the street from Fuji's house, watching the beautiful boy being ravished by Yukimura Seiichi on his doorstep. He'd been a split second away from running to them and forcibly throw Yukimura as far away from Fuji as he could, when he noticed the boys quickly breaking apart and stepping away from the door as it opened to reveal Fuji's sister behind it. He watched them talk briefly, bid goodbye, the Fujis dissapearing inside the house, and the Rikkai captain walk away. And against everything his mind yelled at him at the moment about how innappropiate was what he was just about to do, he sprinted towards the blunette and grabbed his arm.

* * *

Yukimura was delighted. With everything. As soon as he saw his Syuu standing in front of the art gallery, looking all beautiful and adorable, his entire world lightened up as if spring decided to bloom on it's fullest just for him. And the entire evening was just delicious. The exposition was wonderfull, the conversation, they met fun people, and Syuusuke's lips looked just so temping when he drank the apple-raspberry juice they got, with a glimmer of liquid shining on his lower lip, just begging to be kissed. When he took his boyfriend back home, Seiichi just decided those lips were too good to wait for, and let passion take over. Sadly, they got interrupted, but he was staying the weekend at his cousin's again, so they would see each other saturday and sunday to make up for it. Yukimura was just humming his happiness when he felt a hand reaching fast and strong for his right arm. It was just in time he turned around, but the attacker got his left arm instead. It was Tezuka.

"May I know what do you think you are doing?" asked Rikkai's Captain with a very dangerous tone.

"I came to ask the exact same question" Seigaku's Captain blurted out, with anger marked on his features on a very uncommon gesture for him.

"Be specific and clear, Tezuka. You're basically assaulting me out of nowhere" said Yukimura in what was clearly an order and a reprimand.

Tezuka's mind seemed to straighten a little bit at that, for he let go of the blunette's arm and stood a step further to not violate the other's personal space any further.

"I'm refering to the romantic relationship you've established with Fuji Syuusuke" the bespectacled boy clarified.

"What do you have to do with it?" Yukimura raised an eyebrow in an inquisitive way, thought he had already understood everything going on.

"As Fuji's captain, I'm completely against him missing practices just for the sake of going on a date with you, and you should know that, as you are captain of a tennis club yourself" Tezuka seemed to trip over his words as he said this, as if he was struggling trying to say something else.

"I'll see that he doesn't miss anymore of his practices then. If that is all, you may now leave" Yukimura said. They were on the street. It was not on Yukimura to say who's to leave and who's to stay, but it was a question of power now. He was ordering Tezuka to retire himself from the blunette's presence, and if Tezuka did, he knew Yukimura would have established his dominance. Tezuka willed everything on himself to stay put, even under that terrifying gaze that so ressembled the tensai's one when he's truly angry. Tezuka has never been under the weight of that kind of gaze from the brunette before, but he figured it must feel as heavy and oppresing as the one staring at him right now feels. None of them moved an inch for what felt like an hour. It was actually four minutes, when they both gave a step back, turned around and began walking opposite ways.

* * *

Now for the reviews =D

Ecstasy: Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. You're right about the ones with a crush on Fuji. The third Seigaku crushing on him is somewhat of a surprise, thou it is a very popular pairing so I don't think it will actually surprise many people xD

mcangel1976: Thank you.

black wolf-kot: Thank you. I'll be updating as often as I can, I'm a working single mother, so I may take sometime XD Tezuka is kind of an idiot in this particular fic, so I don't think he'll be able to get Fuji back even if he went ahead and confessed =)


	3. Third Date

Hi. PoT not mine, else it wouldn't be amazing. I'm poor.

* * *

That night, Yukimura found himself lying on the bed unable to sleep. The encounter/show down he had with Seigaku's Captain was quite irksome. If the guy's feeling for Syuu were strong enough to strip him from his ability to think straight and feel fear, then he may become a troublesome contender. Deciding that it was best for him to call Yanagi about it the next morning, Yukimura went to get himself a warm cup of milk. He didn't get to the kitchen, though, because his cousin was playing a shooter game on his playstation 3 and as soon as he saw Seiichi was awake, he handed him a controller and patted the spot next to him.

"Can't sleep, shoot someone" his cousin stated as if it was the most obvious and natural thing to do.

* * *

Fuji was currently sitting on his sister's bed, talking non-stop about his boyfriend. His sister had been nagging all week to know more about him, and now that she'd catched them making out at the door, Syuusuke knew she just wouldn't stop until she heard everything she wanted to know. In any case, Fuji was enjoying saying out loud just how wonderful and beautiful and amazing his boyfriend is.

"Seiichi is staying at his cousin's, so he can spend all saturday with me. He said that since we can't see each other at all during the week, he would make the best of the weekend"

"So what are you lovebirds doing tomorrow?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow" Syuusuke said with the cutest teasing smile, sending his sister into a giggling fit.

"I'll hold you to that" She said.

Then they both got ready for bed, not without Yumiko forcing her brother to use all of her night beauty products before.

* * *

Tezuka was beating himself over and over for what he'd done. He let his guard down, let the enemy within take over and do a stupid confrontation to Yukimura. Currently at his backyard, chopping wood, or more accurately, smashing a heavy axe onto innocent unsuspecting pieces of wood that were undeserving of such an aggression, Tezuka tried to calm himself down, only to find it impossible. He just couldn't wipe from his mind the memory of Fuji being savagely kissed by Yukimura, or from the boiling rage that made him feel.

He knew there was no point in getting angry. Rationally, he knew. He had kept his distance, he had consciously decided to pass on Fuji by his own volition, and he knew that right now, him, Tezuka Kunimitsu, had no real or valid claim on Fuji Syuusuke. When he finally managed to convince himself with his own argument, he headed back inside to take a bath and , finally, sleep.

* * *

Next morning, Yukimura overslept. HE. That kind of thing did not happen to the almighty Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Chuu's Captain, period. Yet, and much to his cousin's fault, he had ended up the night before shooting people with imaginary Tezuka heads until 3 am, and consequently, didn't wake up in time. He rushed to get ready, as fast as humanly possible, and practically teleported to the tennis street courts were Fuji was probably already waiting for him, completely forgetting about calling Yanagi about Tezuka's behavior, and actually dropping the memory of the incident somewhere along the way. His mind was full with his boyfriend, anyway, now that the lithe figure was already visible to him. Waving, Yukimura just kept dashing forward until he got there, took a few breaths, kissed Syuu's cheek, and then practically dropped himself on the bench to rest. Never again play shooters when angry, Seiichi thought, when looking at his wristwatch.

* * *

Fuji woke up nice and early, with a glowing smile and equally glowing skin. He'd have to thank his sister later. He took a shower, got ready and practically skipped all the way to the kitchen for breakfast, where he found his mother beaming an all knowing smile at him.

"Ohayo, okaa-san"

"Ohayo, _Syuu_-chan" She answered with a giggle.

"Sooo... Yumiko-nee-san already told you everything, didn't she?

"Yep" His mother was also skipping around in the kitchen when she poured him his cup of coffee.

"I don't have to tell you I'll be out all day, then" he smiled.

"Nope. And I don't have to tell you we'll be waiting for you to tell us everything as soon as you come back" she said with a cute teasing smile. Family trait.

After breakfast, Fuji bid his mother goodbye, brushed his teeth, grabbed his tennis bag, and went to the tennis street courts. There was no one there. Syuusuke let his bag down by the bench, and looked around for his boyfriend. Five minutes past the agreed time, the tensai noticed Seiichi rushing to him like chased by aliens. He couldn't help but giggling. His boyfriend's hair was disheveled, his headband was slightly askew and his shirt's collar was half tucked inside. It was unbelievably cute that the seemingly perfect blunette could oversleep and show up not so perfect-looking for once. Then the boy, not slowing down a bit, stopped in front of him, planted a kiss on his cheek, and slumped down the bench, breathing hard, and checking his wristwatch with a very annoyed face.

"It's just five minutes, sweetheart" Fuji gave him his sweetest smile and bent down to fix his boyfriend's hair, headband and collar.

Seiichi looked up at him with a very puzzled look on his eyes. "You know, everybody else I know would have freaked out over those five minutes"

Fuji just laughed at that. "Then, everybody else you know are a little bit too uptight and should tone it down a notch or two"

Then Yukimura laughed for a whole five minutes, stood up, lifted his Fuji from the floor and spinned him around before giving him a proper greeting kiss, on the lips.

* * *

Fuji Syuusuke was just wonderful to him. He'd arrived late, his Syuu just giggled and calmed him. And then said that everyone else needs to relax. After Yukimura had been so sick, everyone was treating him like he was made of glass. He arrived a bit late to school once and the whole tennis team freaked out on him and Sanada yelled at him that they thought he'd collapsed on the way or something. He understood their feelings, but being treated like that was beyond infuriating. He was not some kind of lady on distress, for crying out loud. Even if he may look like one, according to Yanagi that's the only person that would dare to say that to his face. But Syuu was not like that. They were playing a tennis match right now, going full, and the brunette wasn't stealing frightened glances at him as if he'd drop dead any second. Actually, the mesmerizing intensity of those blue eyes were making him forget about all his worries, all the stress, and reminded him of just how awesome life is. After the match, they went to change, headed for a cafe to have some lunch, and went to the National Museum of Western Art.

They walked hand in hand, conversing softly about the paintings and sculptures, stopping to admire them. They talked about what they liked, what they thought. Yukimura commented that he currently desired to own all of Renoir's paintings, and Fuji commented about how Robert's Imaginary view on Rome made him feel like visiting Italy, and they talked about how Rodin's Adam gave them an oppressive feeling, and many more things. In front of Monet's Water Lillies, Syuusuke became a bit entranced, and Seiichi just stared at him amused.

"What is it?"

"It's just... this one reminds me of your eyes"

Yukimura chuckled at that. Syuu was always so cute.

They stayed at the museum until closing time. They went for a coffee and something to eat, then they headed for the Planetarium. In here, Syuu did most of the talking, fascinated explaining everything about the constellations to Seiichi, with an almost childish delight to his delicate features. Yukimura took in everything he could, but what stayed on his mind the most, was Fuji's smile.

At the end of the day, both boys were in a delicious calm, happy and contented. Seiichi brought Syuu to his house again, but when they were one block away, his brunette boyfriend pulled him to a stop.

"My mom and my sister are waiting for us. Would you stay?"

"If you want me to"

"Can I kiss you here?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Then Fuji pulled him down for a kiss so passionate he felt his mind slipping all the way to heaven.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading and for reviewing and fav/follow. It makes me feel like Im actually good at this =D

Black wolf-kot: Thank you so much for your review. I'm trying to learn how to edit this thing to put more spaces, but when it comes to computers, I'm as dumb as a doorknob, seriously. And the third Seigaku, yes, it's Ryoma. Thought, him and Kawamura won't have much screen time on my fic, lol. Yeah, I speak spanish too =)

Anon: Thanks to you, for reading and reviewing, I'm glad to know my story is liked =)

mcangel1976: thank you =) Yep, Tezuka should know better than to mess with Yuki, lol.

Ecstasy: Thank you again =) Yep, the third one is Ryoma. YukixFuji is just perfect, isn't it? They are just so beautiful together I can't help but write xD I'll be updating as often as I can.

Kisses for everyone who's reading =D


	4. The Busiest Week

Hi, people. There's a difference between me and Takeshi Konomi, and it's that he owns one PoT and I own two pots. One has a busy lizzy and the other has a cactus. I totally win.

...  
Now I feel stupid.  
BTW, PoT boys live on a magical world where tennis players can jump four meters high, tennis balls can break metal fences and a zero-shiki drop can extinguish the dinosaurs. So I'll give them enough magic to resist their hormones because I don't want little 14 years old boys doing M rated things yet.

=)

* * *

Fuji had butterflies throwing a full blown dubstep party on his stomach. And he didn't like dubstep. He had just invited Yukimura to stay over at his house, and after a very enjoyable dinner with his mother and sister, both boys were on Syuusuke's room getting ready to sleep. The Fuji mom had prepared one of Yuuta's pajamas for Yukimura, and put the boy's clothes on the washing machine so he would have clean clothes for the next day. Seiichi called his cousin to tell him he won't be coming back until morning, the other just said he'd guessed it, and good luck. He said it loud enough that both boys heard him through the phone speaker. And they were blushing like a cute pair of tomatoes. Not that anything was going to happen, it was too soon and they both knew it. Seiichi was supposed to sleep on the guest room, anyway. The blunette seemed to notice his boyfriend's discomfort, for he slowly deposited a very innocent smooch on his cheek.

"I'm not expecting anything" he said.

Syuusuke looked at him with open blue eyes. "Me neither"

The tension dissipated and they just sat in Fuji's bed talking and laughing and having fun until they were both too tired and kissed each other good night. Then Yukimura headed to the room just in front of Fuji's.

* * *

Seiichi had no problem sleeping on a different bed, and he was so happy about being close to his Syuu, even thought they were in different rooms, that he just blissfully slipped away to dreamland. Next morning, they both opened the door at the exact same time and gave each other bright early smiles. The smell of breakfast already filled the air, as Yoshiko-san is a very early riser. The peaceful and contented feeling that Fuji's home seemed to emit was heart-warming, and the idea crossed Seiichi's mind that he wouldn't mind this kind of atmosphere for the rest of his life. But, being the busy over-solicited person he was, he had to leave early for Kanagawa to get everything ready for monday. Syuusuke accompanied him to his cousin's to get his stuff, and then to the station to bid him goodbye. The kiss they shared was one of already missing the other. Syuusuke stayed until the train was gone, and Yukimura spent the trip thinking about the luck he had.

When he finally got home, thought, his mind was somewhere else completely. The amount of work waiting for him on his desk was murderous. Yukimura had a very busy week coming.

After an exhausting sunday of work, monday came with all it's hideousness flooding over the world. The school year was almost over, and everyone at school seemed to have unfinished business with him, from the principal to the whole student body. He couldn't have a quiet minute without being summoned by someone. The only reason his brain didn't explode inside is skull was the texts he was receiving from his boyfriend. Syuusuke seemed to know exactly what to say to make him laugh. Swiftly texting back, he directed his attention to the teacher talking to him right now.

"So, Yukimura-kun, I need you to present this paper by thursday"

"Hai, Namuro-sensei"

The chemistry teacher always seemed to have a problem with him. All the other teachers were far more understanding with him in respect of his illness and responsibility to the tennis team, and were more lenient with the schoolwork he'd missed during the time he'd been hospitalized and then busy with the tournament. This teacher, thought, was apparently enjoying giving him a hard time, having assigned him all the missing work in one ridiculously long paper of a hundred pages, giving him just three days to write it, as if it was even possible. Normally Yukimura was completely against talking about other people behind their back, but this, was too much to ignore. He texted Syuu telling him about it.

"It seems that my chemistry teacher's work is now making me fail his class, I have to write a 100 pages paper for thursday"

What Fuji texted back to him, managed to make him laugh so heartily that some passerby's stared at him.

"Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing. I'll gladly write it with you =)"

That was all at the same time a joke on his teacher, and a promise that they'll get the work done in time together.

* * *

Classes weren't over at Seigaku yet, and Fuji was already running far away from the school-building. He had just promised to help Yukimura with his insanely impossible homework, but he didn't want to do it by chat. So he called his sister to beg her to cover up for him at school, went to his house, picked up a really big bag, and dashed to get on the first train to Kanagawa. He wasn't missing anything too important in classes anyway, so he just didn't worry too much about Seigaku and focused on thinking how to convince Seiichi's parents to let him stay over the night.

When he finally got to Yukimura's home, he still had nothing that didn't sound at least a little bit stalkerish, so he just pushed his hopes up and rang the doorbell.

It was Yukimura's mother that got the door. Syuusuke took a breath in and spoke.

"Hello, Yukimura-san. I'm Fuji Syuusuke, I'm Seiichi's"- "Boyfriend" the woman cut in, with a wide, bright smile.

"I had the feeling you would show up. Come in, I'll prepare the guest room for you"

"How did you"- "know?" She cut in again.

"Yanagi-kun called me as soon as he found out about Seiichi's giant chemistry assignment, I was this close to going directly to the school to complain, but then he said that there was 84% chance the solution would come to knock my door in a couple hours. I just thought that meant you"

"I guess I owe Yanagi-kun my gratitude, then" Fuji smiled.

"Seiichi is going to have a delightful surprise when he gets here. I know you probably want to get started with the work, so come tell me when you are ready and I'll show you Seiichi's work desk." Said the lady while letting him inside the guest room.

It was huge. Bigger than his own room. There was a giant closet where he didn't take a second to organize everything he brought with him, and the bedside table had a flower vase with a single water lily. Then he went back to the living room where Yukimura's mom was waiting.

"You know" She said as soon as she saw him "I always knew my son would find a beautiful person to walk by his side. I'm glad you care so much about him that you came all the way here not knowing what you would find."

* * *

His monday at school had just ended, but Seiichi felt like it had been a month. Just too much work. On top of that, he couldn't reach Syuu's cellphone anymore, and that was making him worry. He was so exhausted he just wanted to go home, take a relaxing bath, crawl to bed and sleep for a week. What he totally didn't expect when he opened the door to his home, was to find his mother and Syuusuke checking books together in front of the coffee table covered in papers, open books and a computer.

"Syuu, what are you doing here?" was all he managed to say, dropping his school and tennis bags and dashing forward to hug him. "Mom, what's going on?"

"Oh, honey, Syuu-chan here came all the way from Tokyo to help you with your homework. He'll be staying until thursday with us"

"Why did you do that?" Now Yukimura was really alarmed "You're going to miss school and practices!"

"It's ok, Yumiko-nee-san got me permission from school, and I think this is more important. We won't let that teacher force you to fail his class"

At that, Seiichi just hugged him tighter and whispered a thank you, knowing the importance of him passing with good grades, even as the memory of a Tezuka Kunimitsu confronting him about Fuji missing practices resurfaced on his mind.

* * *

Tezuka Kunimitsu was dumbfounded. His face had gone blank- or blanker than usual- when he heard Ryuuzaki-sensei announce that Fuji Syuusuke would be absent from school until friday, due to a "family emergency". He had the revolting gut-feeling that the alleged emergency was a farce. A side of himself that he normally didn't get to see was yelling at him to run all the way to Yukimura's house before he could do anything to his teammate and friend. The other side, thought, the one that normally ruled his life, told him that he had to accept the excuse he'd been given and continue to guide the Seigaku tennis team to excellence. They had practice tennis matches, and Tezuka hit a ball that looked suspiciously like Yukimura's head so hard it broke the opponent's racket.

* * *

The day at Yukimura's house had gone amazing. When Seiichi arrived, they had a very cheerful dinner, and he got to know Yukimura's parents, sister and grandmother. They were all very nice and calm, and Syuusuke felt like he belonged. It was such a pleasant feeling. After kissing each other good night, Fuji stayed on the guest room, turned his phone back on, and dialed Eiji's number.

"Nyaaa, Fujiko-chan! What happened, everyone is so worried, you just left school running like the end of the world was coming!" came the very loud scream.

"I'm very sorry, Eiji"

"So tell me everything, now!"

"I'm at Seiichi's house."

"Hoi? Does that mean... OMG FUJIKO-CHAN YOU'RE SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH HIM!"

"Noooo! Eiji, is nothing like that, I came to help him with an emergency, I'm staying in the guest room!" Fuji laughed.

"What kind of emergency?" Eiji just adjusted so fast.

"School-related. Anyway, how was practice?"

"Hoi, it was hideous. Everyone fainted because of Inui's juice again, and Tezuka-buchou looked like he had eaten a raccoon and it was tearing his intestines from the inside or something"

"Really? Why?"

"I don't know, he became that way as soon as Ryuuzaki-sensei gave the news about you missing 'til Friday"

"Saa... He really gets mad when people slack off"

"Yudan sezu ni iko" said Eiji in an uncanny imitation of Tezuka's cement voice.

Fuji just laughed.

The next days where gone incredibly fast. With Seika-kaa-san and Sachiko-obaa-san helping too, they managed to get Yukimura's encyclopedia sized homework done by wednesday 11pm. Fuji had the darkest circles he'd ever had under his eyes, and he felt that he looked as horrifying as a walking corpse. But, Yukimura, also looking dead tired, settled his pen down, hugged him and said

"You look beautiful. Thank you so much for doing this with me, Syuu"

"In the goods and the bads, right?" Fuji said, yawning, while his head just dropped in his boyfriend's shoulder so deeply asleep he wouldn't wake up for an earthquake.

* * *

Yukimura was so incredibly grateful to the lithe person he was currently carrying bridal style to his bed. He had the incredible brain and strength to write a hundred pages of complicated science in two days and a half, by hand and imitating Yukimura's handwriting to perfection. He certainly deserves the title of genius, Seiichi thought. His mother had started to write the paper by computer, but Syuusuke pointed out that if the teacher was so keen in making him fail, he would probably accuse him of cheating unless it was irrefutable that Seiichi wrote the paper himself, and then proceeded to practice three hours in a row to perfect an untraceable imitation of Yukimura's writing. They all worked very hard, but it was really Fuji the one that carried the heavier load. Lying down by his side, Seiichi brought Syuu's hand to his lips to kiss them, realizing just how many blisters and swelling he had from writing so much. Yukimura just wanted to sleep, but he got up, carried his first aid kit to his bed, and healed Syuu's hand the better he could. Then he laid down again, hugged his pretty boyfriend, and fell asleep.

The next morning, he got up to school without waking his little tensai up and proceeded to deliver the condemned chemistry paper written with sweat and blood. He so wished his Syuusuke could see the look on the teacher's face while he examined the hundred pages on what was undeniably Yukimura's handwriting.

* * *

The next chapter is going to have more Tezuka than the previous ones on it. I guess I'll have it ready by saturday.

I'm writing this instead of sleeping like I should, so kisses for everyone that takes the time to read.

For the reviews:

Thanks for reviewing everytime, it makes me really happy. I truly hope the three of you enjoyed this chapter, and that in the future I don't let you down =) Yudan sezu ni iko! xDDDDDDD ok that was silly.

Black wolf-kot: Thank you =) Any language you wish to write in is fine by me. I write in english because I like it better, but spanish is my mother tongue, so yeah, I'm fine either way. Next chapter is going to cause a major change in the story, but I plan to keep up on the cuteness because that's what I love about them too. About mother's day, thank you, I'm glad you remembered =) My baby girl is two years old, so she gave me the cutest half-tongue "Dia mama! Felish!" and I laughed so much.

mcangel1976: Thank you =) Tezuka's going to have a harder time controlling himself from now on, so I hope that's doesn't give you too much grief. I'm not gonna be any nice to the poor boy.

Ecstasy: Thank to you, for reading! I'm glad you like it. I have so much fun writing, that last night I didn't even realize it was already five in the morning when I finished this one chapter xD I don't think I'll have a new one in a few days, because I'm overloaded with work right now, and procastinating is not healthy, lol.


	5. Invitation

Hello! Leena reporting to duty. PoT still not mine. My brain is this close from a blue screen, over-working and under-sleeping. Please, go easy on me.

* * *

Tezuka's stress levels were about to cause him brain damage. Somehow, Fuji's absence was even more unnerving than his distracted to the point of uselessness presence, humming love songs as he had been doing the previous week. The stoic buchou seemed to emit corrosive waves of dark energy as he paced around tennis practices, somehow forgetting that he was supposed to supervise training. Not even Inui or Ryuuzaki-sensei seemed to have the courage to say anything to him in his current state, and he hated to admit it, but he also lacked the backbone to ask the questions that were eating his entrails at an alarming rate: Where his he?. What is he doing? How come he hadn't realized that Fuji's presence had become a part of Seigaku itself?

For that last question, Tezuka had more or less of an answer. Fuji had always been there before. He didn't realize how much that calm aura had become his whole idea of Seigaku because the emitter of said calmness had never been missing. Now that he was, all the veins on Tezuka's overly stressed head were threatening to explode, and he didn't know if to feel furious with Fuji, himself, Yukimura, the school, the world or what. When the school day was over, he had no idea how did he actually got through it. Going home was normally the most relaxing part of his day, walking side to side with the one that now had left just an empty space on the road next to him.

And even with all those feelings, all that he'd realized, all he learned, Tezuka still couldn't tell if he was annoyed or relieved to know that Fuji would be back tomorrow.

* * *

When Fuji woke up, it was so late already he couldn't help his embarrassment. It was past lunch time, and he was still on pajamas that he didn't recall putting on, and he had been sleeping on Seiichi's bed. To top it all, Seika-kaa-san had just entered the room with a huge tray of food, beaming at him.

"Sorry about your clothes. Okaa-sama is always worrying a bit too much, and when she saw you and Seiichi had fallen asleep on your day clothes, she just went ahead and changed you."

Syuusuke opened his mouth to say something, but he truly had no idea what. Two second with his mouth open and he settled for muttering a red faced "thank you".

Seika-kaa-san laughed at that, placed the tray on the nightstand, leaned forward and planted a kiss on Fuji's forehead.

"Thank you, for what you did for my Seiichi. I'm glad he has you" As she was leaving, she added "I'll prepare you a bubble bath while you eat, today you rest".

The food was wonderful, the bath brought him back to life and now he was sitting with Seika-kaa-san on Seiichi's gorgeous garden that he didn't have the time to even notice before.

"Seiichi takes care of the garden, he's got a gift with flowers, you know? Nobody else can make them bloom like this"

"Saa... It's so beautiful. It feels like the realms of faeries"

Seika-kaa-san giggled and took another sip from her rose tea. When they heard the door, they went to greet Reina-chan, Seiichi's sister, then headed for the kitchen to make dinner.

"It's really not necessary that you help, Syuu-chan, you've already done so much"

"Oh, it's ok, I would be glad to"

* * *

When Seiichi arrived, his mother and boyfriend had served a beautiful table and a delicious dinner with his favorite grilled fish, daikon oroshi and everything he liked.

"Syuu-chan asked me about your favorite food and I just thought it would be better to show him. The grilled fish is 90% his doing"

"I couldn't have made it without Seika-kaa-san's thorough guidance" Syuu answered.

The blunette was having an amazing day. Everything was delicious, and the conversation at the table was more lively than usual, and they all laughed so much to hear about the teacher's reaction when he couldn't find a single mistake on the paper even thought he used all his work day to go over it again and again. The full school found out about it, because he'd been checking it instead of doing classes, and the rumors about Seiichi being actually half godly were even stronger than before.

After eating, the entire family went to bid Syuu goodbye at the train station, not without inviting him to stay over again anytime.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble, Syuu"

"It's alright, we got to spend three days together, and I got to meet your family, and even cook for you. I'm really glad"

"You're really a wonder, you know? By the way, if Tezuka gives you any trouble, call me. I'll take full responsibility" Yukimura had wanted to say "I'll set him straight" but thought it may sound inappropriate in front of his family.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Syuusuke, clearly confused.

"Oh, right, I hadn't told you yet. That day after our second date, Tezuka confronted me about you missing practices because of me. I may have said that I would see for it not to happen again" somehow telling his boyfriend that made him feel embarrassed, as if he'd treated Syuusuke the wrong way.

"He had no right to do that. I may be a part of the tennis club, but my private life is out of the line" Syuusuke was obviously mad now.

"I'm sorry"

"It's not you the one that should apologize. He should have talked directly to me. In any case, let's not talk about him. We better focus on thing we enjoy. Especially you, you work too much"

"And you're telling me you don't" Seiichi referred to the past three days.

"Saa... I have fun with everything I do, even if it doesn't look like it"

"Well, I guess it is true I take everything a bit too seriously"

With that, they softly kissed good bye.

* * *

Friday morning came with a sense of dread to Tezuka. He was looking forward to see Syuusuke again, but he was also fearing the reaction it could cause on his already strained mind. The previous day his grandfather had noticed how torn down he was and had taken him fishing, and at least he could keep himself from thinking about Fuji during that time, but as he approached the school building, he found himself drowning more and more on that feeling of need that the brunette's absence had stirred on his chest. There had to be a way to stop it, he thought. There just had to be, because living like this would give him a heart attack before he gets the chance to turn fifteen years old.

As his daily schedule went by, Tezuka had the good, or maybe bad, luck to not run into the tensai, for he was dreading their encounter as much as he was getting stressed over the fact that it hadn't yet happened. That, until tennis practices started, and he directed his steps to the locker room. And he found himself staring directly onto the furious electricity of Fuji Syuusuke's angry eyes.

* * *

Fuji looked at the sky and remembered Yukimura's beautiful hair. Looked at the clouds and remembered his white pearly skin. He recalled their memories, the air of authority than Yukimura permanently emits, the thrill of their tennis matches. Then he remembered Tezuka and for how very long the pain of unrequited love strangled his heart. Tezuka never laughed at his comments like Seiichi does. Actually, Seigaku's buchou completely lacked a sense of humor. They got along quite well, but if Fuji truly thinks about it, he always reaches the same conclusion: they got along because Fuji could always understand Tezuka's monosyllabic answers like nobody else does. But the other boy never really made an effort to include Fuji on his life, aside from that one time that Tezuka played him when they just met, and made the promise of playing again when he got better. But even that, was more about tennis than it was about Fuji. Syuusuke's heart used to hurt whenever he thought too much about Tezuka. All that is gone now, anyway, he thinks with a more honest smile. Fuji takes a deep breath in and focuses on the problem at hand: How is he going to confront Tezuka about the practices he missed, and more importantly about trying to interfere with his love life. Honestly, after three years of being friends, the other boy should really know better than to so much as give a bad look at any of Fuji Syuusuke's loved ones.

Finally deciding on a course of action, Fuji chose to wait until the moment Tezuka comes to the locker room to change, and there he was right now, boring daggers on the brown eyes of Seigaku's tennis team captain.

"Tezuka"

"Fuji"

"Who gave you the right to scold my boyfriend?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you talk to me directly? I'm not some kind of lady on the old Japan, there's no need to go around me and speak to my partner about my discipline. I said I'm gay, not I'm a woman."

"I... " Tezuka just seemed to be gaping.

"I'm your friend, and I'm a man as I've always been, so when I miss practices, scold me to my face, and I'll run laps. But my private life and loved ones are out of your authority zone"

"There you are!" Ryuuzaki-sensei popped up out of nowhere. "Tezuka, I need you to come with me. Change and go get Oiishi."

"We'll talk later, Fuji"

Fuji was even angrier than before now, with an aura that could murder by proximity. So much, Ryuuzaki-sensei shuddered when greeting him, as scrammed like hell had come to get her. And Tezuka changed so fast it looked like he was about to burst in flames.

* * *

Tezuka felt like he owed his life to his coach right now. Out of all the things he expected to happen when he saw Fuji again, this one was the worse. And on top of that, there was no answer he could give to that question. At least not any kind of answer he would dare say out loud. So after he got himself far enough that he couldn't see Fuji's deadly aura anymore, he just took a deep breath in, and remembered what his grandfather had said just the day before: "There's a fish for every bait". And he took out his cellphone to look at the photo of himself with a fish he had catched with the bait he'd received from the only other person in the world that could give him any kind of peace right now: His friend Oiishi.

The vice-captain was already on the courts watching Kikumaru play a tennis match with himself. There had to be something super-natural about that guy. In any case, he was supposed to get Oiishi, so he walked to him, informed the situation and proceeded to show Oiishi the picture he'd been staring at. There's a fish for every bait, isn't it? Then if Fuji had been catched already, maybe that means there's another person for him out there, thought Tezuka, trying in vain to calm his ache.

But, then, the news Ryuuzaki-sensei had for them took his mind completely out of the pain. She pulled out an envelope, and after reading the contents, somehow a full new sky seemed to shine over him. Under 17 National Selection of best tennis player in Japan. They had been invited to the candidates camp.

* * *

Yukimura had been thinking about what Syuu said before leaving. I did take everything too seriously. Way too seriously. He's been laughing a lot more than he ever had now that he's dating his genius boyfriend, but he wasn't that much of a joker himself. And after being beaten by Echizen Ryoma with a kind of perfection you can only acquire by enjoying and having fun with tennis, he thought maybe he should give joking around a try, and maybe include jokes on their training schedule.

Now that he was hearing the borderline psychotic laughs of his teammates, he was reconsidering this having fun while training thing. He was thinking about another way for them to attain Müga no Kyouchi when an envelope was delivered to him. They'd been selected for the U-17 camp.

* * *

Fuji almost forgot everything he was angry about with Tezuka when the guy stood there next to Oiishi and coach Ryuuzaki announcing their selection for the must-go U-17 camp. He couldn't believe his ears the first two seconds.

"When do we have to be there?"

"Tomorrow, at dawn"

If they had been called in, surely Rikkai was too, right? He hoped for the best, because there was no way he'd pass on this opportunity.

* * *

Next morning, all of the Seigaku regulars showed up on the U-17 camp's entrance. Kikumaru was jumping around over-excited as always, climbing up a camera post in a second, Oiishi worried, Kaidoh and Momoshiro just a minute late fighting each other. Fuji seemed to be back to his normal self: not humming, permanently smiling and emitting an aura of calm that you just knew could turn deadly if pushed the wrong way. Tezuka was, for the first time in two weeks, standing on firm ground, back to his comfort zone, standing side to side to the one he considers his best friend on the world. He was ready to take on this new challenge, and he was there to do what he loved the most on the world. Play tennis.

* * *

Fuji was calm and self-confident. He decided to forgive his friend very quickly, since it seemed he didn't mean to insult or mess with him at all on the first place. Seiichi had confirmed the Rikkai team was also coming, so he had no qualms in enjoying the thrill about to come. This would be just sooo much fun, the brunette smiled to himself.

* * *

.

Hope it wasn't too boring. The next one is going to be more entertaining, or so I hope. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. The next one will be done by next saturday, probably. Let's settle for every saturday as most likely weekly update day. Love for every reader =)

Now for the reviews! Yay!

mcangel1976: glad to know my Tezuka torture isn't a let down xDD I still don't know why I'm being so mean to him, thought, I actually like the guy.

Pri-Chan 1410: Thank you =) I think I'll be updating on saturdays, once a week.

Ecstasy: yeah, I may be making them a bit too passionate xD Thought I've always seen Fuji as the type to go a bit too far for his loved ones =) Thanks for the good luck, I managed to get all my work done in time, so I'm pretty relaxed and happy today. About the raccoon, I don't really know why I choose it, you know, I just wrote it without thinking. I normally speak that way (with weird comparisons to illustrate) so it just comes naturally xDD

Anon: My favorite were Tezufuji too, but when I saw Fuji with Yukimura, my had a fangirling attack xDD Thank you for reading =D

black wolf-kot: I'm really wishing this chapter didn't kill your expectations xDD Somehow I've found myself nervous hoping you like it, lol.

annpui: oh my gosh, Tezubaka xDDDDDD you have no idea how much that made me laugh. Thank you so much, I'm delighted when I read you think it's an awesome fic xDD


	6. The Crushing Start

Hi! Leena here. My gosh, it took forever to write this, lol. I'm not even sure it's good. I'm quite happy with it, thought. I'd tell you again that PoT is not mine, but everybody knows that already.

* * *

The Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Chuu Tennis team on it's whole was walking to the gates of what would be their most exciting challenge so far. They were to be playing with the best highschool tennis players in the country. All the candidates for the delegation that represented Japan in front of the world. A whole new level of tennis, just one step from the professional level. Yukimura Seiichi was exhilarated. Not that his calm features showed anything, aside from his normal pleasant smile. He knew Syuu was soon to be standing in front of those doors too, to take on this new challenge with him.

There was an over-excited thump on his chest the moment they entered, as if he'd stepped onto a whole new world. The other schools were appearing just behind them too. Seigaku, Shitenhouji, Hyoutei. As they walked inside, everyone seemed to notice them. They all looked older, but not that much stronger. Some of these highschool guys proposed a somewhat silly challenge of hitting cans that everyone passed with ease.

Syuu used a Hakugei to use the same ball for the three cans, and then he spoke to Tezuka.

"Tezuka... You're only gonna need one shot, right?" Syuu said as he handed the ball he'd just used to the Seigaku captain.

And that's when he saw it. The glint on Tezuka's eyes. That glint that showed love, an almost perfectly hidden spark of tenderness and desire. And he didn't like it.

* * *

Having to hit cans to prove their worth felt somewhat of a bother. They were there to play tennis in a serious manner, not throw challenges at random. But seeing his team hit the cans easily did give him a sense of pride. And then, Fuji took the three cans out with ease and talked to him as he always did, wind blowing on his honey brown hair softly, and handed him the same tennis ball he'd just used, Tezuka barely grazing him with his fingertips as he accepted it, even thought he always carries some, and somehow, everything seemed to be back as it always had, before being disturbed by that Yukimura guy.

And they walked together to the tennis courts, side by side, and the pleasant calm engulfed him once more, and Tezuka could have sworn that Fuji would stay there forever, and that nothing would go wrong.

And his mood only set up higher when their missing Echizen and all the other middle school tennis teams he'd created a bond with appeared just in time to catch one or more of those 250 tennis balls dropped from the air, as another test for them to stay.

* * *

Fuji stayed that first day on the camp with Tezuka and the Seigaku tennis team. It seemed like an unspoken agreement with his boyfriend, that they should stay with their teams. Standing at Tezuka's side while watching the tennis matches felt natural to him, more now that his heart felt at ease. As if all those strained feelings he used to have just evaporated. Syuusuke just held his smile as usual while the highschoolers challenged them. A bespectacled boy by the name of Irie Kanata stopped the matches and the coaches showed the middle schoolers around the facilities, which where so big and cut edge technology that the explanations took all the rest of the day. It was really fascinating, the opportunity that was being offered to them. He was often told that he didn't take anything seriously. Now was the chance to change that.

* * *

After being shown around, the coaches took them to the dorms.

Room 201: Shiraishi - Yukimura - Fuji S. - Tezuka

...

Tezuka cleaned his glasses and read the sign again, as if hoping it would change what it said.

Room 201: Shiraishi - Yukimura - Fuji S. - Tezuka

Alright, now he was screwed. He had expected the camp to be challenging, but this?...

Now he was really second guessing his decision to stay. Fuji and Yukimura exchanged a look that said things he didn't want to know about. They got on the same bunk bed, Fuji on the lower one, and they smiled at each other with feelings he didn't want to see. Fuji put on his pajamas and blushed slightly at Yukimura doing the same, and Tezuka didn't want to see that either. But he just couldn't help it. He had to look. It was painful, there was no denying that. But he just couldn't look away.

* * *

Yukimura knew Tezuka was staring. So was Shiraishi, thought the blonde was actually staring at them both. But it was Tezuka's stare that bothered him. The stoic captain of the Seigaku tennis team looked almost... hungry, almost painfully hungry when looking at his Syuu. Then he looked at Syuu, and his brunette didn't seem to take in the meaning of those looks. Actually, the boy was too busy with his own hungry look directed at him, as he removed his Rikkai suit and got on his pajamas. Syuu wasn't one to look around when he had someone. Yukimura smiled to himself and decided he should not pay more attention than necessary to Tezuka. That decision only lasted until Fuji and Shiraishi where asleep. Light where out when he heard Tezuka sit down on the other bulk bed, and felt his intense stare on him.

"Yukimura, are you awake?"

"Yes."

"I want to ask you something"

"Ask."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes. Why do you want to know?"

"I was told to be Seigaku's pillar of support. I don't want to see any Seigaku regular being hurt."

"He won't"

Then they both heard a giggle very familiar to them. Fuji was awake.

"That's so like you, Tezuka. But I told you, my private life doesn't concern you"

"So, what I get from this is that Fuji and Yukimura are dating, right?" Now it was Shiraishi's turn to startle them.

"Don't tell anybody. Only people in this room know." commanded the blunette.

"And Eiji." completed Fuji.

"Oh, don't worry, I can keep a secret. So, can I ask how you started dating?"

"Should I tell him?" Fuji asked.

"Shiraishi is a friend to me. It's ok to tell him, I think."

* * *

The conversation went on and on. Fuji, Yukimura and Shiraishi seemed to get along perfectly well, and they completely forgot about him. Tezuka just could think that this was torture. Fuji's giggles as he told Shiraishi stories of his dates, about them staying together, Yukimura's soft laugh recounting on Fuji's cuteness, and he just lying there, quiet on bed, listening to them, completely unable to tell the brunette how much he wanted him, how much he hated him, how much he loved him, how much he wished he was far far away and free from his charms that tried to pull him away from the path he'd chosen to that world of blissful calm he knew he shouldn't indulge himself in. Tezuka just rolled on his bed to face the wall, hoping to drift into sleep so he didn't have to listen to the voice of his temptation anymore.

He didn't even notice when he finally fell asleep, and suddenly he was awake. The camp had a massive waking call for them to get ready for training. And the day couldn't have started off any worse. Dealing with Fuji changing and showering on the locker rooms was one thing. Dealing with that angelical sleeping face first thing in the morning was something else entirely. Then seeing those sleepy eyes open slowly and give him a friendly smile made his heart stop altogether. Until Yukimura came down and kissed Fuji on the lips. Then Fuji showering, Fuji getting dressed, Yukimura hovering around like the queen bee on her honey, and Shiraishi looking at them both as if they were heaven. Oh, what kind of hell is this. Training time just couldn't come fast enough, thought Tezuka as he watched the highschoolers run outside just so he didn't have to look at Fuji enjoying the stunning breakfast with that smile.

Finally outside, the shuffle matches were already up. The only middle schooler to be chosen was Momoshiro. Tezuka had high expectations for his teammates, but something was not quite right there. He felt that there were ulterior motives for this match, and Fuji's expression just confirmed his thoughts. Right now, he was grateful of the tensai's calming presence, seeing his kouhai being beaten like that. And their harsh training was just starting. A kinder looking coach showed up. Mental coach. He told them to pair up. Tezuka thought for a split second to ask Fuji, but the boy had already gone for his brother, and his rational side reminded him Fuji playing tennis so close to him was never a good idea. Kaidoh asked him to pair up, just to find out they were not playing doubles... but singles matches, were the loser was to drop out. This camp was ruthless.

The first round of matches had just one pair from Seigaku: the golden pair. Tezuka was having a real hard time, watching the team he sacrificed so much for being forcefully torn apart. Eiji and Oiishi didn't seem to be having it any easier. It was heart-wrenching. And he looked to his side to have his heart repaired. Eiji and Oiishi decided to play their full, with no regrets, and Fuji looked at him with a smile that seemed to ask if he was ok. Tezuka nodded and smiled back. The feelings he had for that boy were not that much of a burden at times like this, when he needed something to calm himself down. Especially now that it was his own turn to play against his kouhai that he had so much to teach to.

* * *

Fuji knew the coaches were trying to crush their prides. Momoshiro's match against Oni Juujirou told him that. Why did he not think of that? When that harmless looking coach said to pair up, why didn't he remember that? As soon as he heard pairing up, Syuusuke hoped right in front of his brother, hoping this would be an opportunity to bond. Now he had to fight him... with elimination at stake. Fuji looked across the tennis courts to his boyfriend, facing a similar dilemma. Seiichi had to play against Sanada. Syuusuke knew how much Sanada meant to his boyfriend. They were best friends, the kind to support each other in any situation. Sanada had been there during Seiichi's illness. They had ruled over Rikkai's tennis team together. And now, at the same time Syuusuke was supposed to fight against his own brother, Seiichi was to fight his best friend.

Eiji had just eliminated Oiishi from the camp, and the normally bubbly redhead had such a painful glint to his eyes it was crushing to look at him. All around him, people that had always been together, best friends, people that loved each other, were being forced apart.

Fuji looked at his brother across the net, took a deep breath in, and prepared to carry on the choice he'd made. He would show Yuuta everything he was. Everything he could do. Yuuta wanted to beat him more than anything else. He would provide his brother with a full display of what he had to fight against to do so, every counter he had to overcome. Even then, a somewhat painful thought reminded him: he is, after all, what people call a genius. Even if he shows everything, even if Yuuta breaks every single one of his counters... He'd evolve again. He would create more, and maybe, never ever be able to get Yuuta to forgive him. Maybe Yuuta would never want him again. Fuji almost felt tears on his eyes and fixed his plastified smile in place to stop them. He'd have time to dwell on that later. Right now, he had to play a match against his Yuuta.

* * *

Yukimura was crushing on the inside. The man standing across the net from him was one that he owed the world to. Pointed, they were friends that annoyed each other. Yukimura did freak the heck out of Sanada with his eccentricities. And Sanada did annoy the heck out of Yukimura treating him like a girl sometimes. But Yukimura wouldn't have made it out of that hospital without Sanada supporting him. Sanada had taken the burden of carrying the tennis team on his shoulders, trying to fulfill the promise of taking the national tournament without a single loss. But the path to take was clear. He would give his best battle to his friend. Doing anything but that would be disrespectful. Insulting. Even if his heart was filling with lead as he watched Sanada leave the court of what would have been the best opportunity of his life, ignoring the hand extended to him for a handshake, he knew there was no other path he could have taken.

* * *

.

Aaaaaaand everybody is suffering now. Lol. And Tezuka just can't make his mind about what he feels. BTW, I really hate that coach! I would hit him across the face with a chair if I was tall enough. I think if I tried, I would actually hit his knee. He made my beloved dirty pair, silver pair and platinum pair split up, so I'll never ever forgive him. I'm watching the New Prince of Tennis anime (I had only read the manga) and it's really cute. But seriously, that thing with the lasers (step, step, one, two, one, two, ina bauer thing), I had to watch it like ten times in a row because it was just too funny! Ok, to the important stuff people actually care about: next update in exactly a week from now =)

Now to the reviews:

Lexy The Thief: thanks for reviewing =) Yep, Tezuka in room 201. I had that in mind from the start, lol.

Pri-Chan 1410: Hope you enjoyed the new chapter =)

mcangel1976: Thank you. I'm actually planning a confession in the future, but it's gonna be some time before Tezuka gets around to say it.

black wolf-kot: Pues la verdad que yo tambien me sorprendi, pero es que tus reviews me alegran el día xDD Me encantó eso de Heaven Room, es tan cierto! ni se me habría ocurrido, lol, es genial. Ojalá te haya gustado el capi este, me tomé la tarde libre para escribirlo, lol. Menos mal que a mi jefa también le gusta el anime, porque si no me corta las manos y las pega a la máquina de coser para que no deje el trabajo xDDD

Ecstasy: Glad you enjoy it! I hope this one was good, I'm trying to get it right with the U-17 thing, lol. I made Fuji suffer today a bit, but it's Konomi's fault, I swear xDDD He had the spectacular idea to make poor Syuusuke play his baby brother. I'm happy to be a fresh air from all that Fuji in love pain thought, lol. Thank you for reviewing everytime =)

NathanKhin: OMYGOSH. Honestly, great fanfic made me blush and giggle, I'm really happy you think so. I'll try my best to keep up.


End file.
